ONDH: 48 Suicide Cases in Chefchaouen Since 2018

Rabat – The Human Rights Observatory of the North (ONDH) announced that the number of suicides in the Chefchaouen province has risen to 48 since the start of 2018, including ten reported cases in 2019.

The head of the observatory, Mohamed Benaissa, said in a statement on Monday that the results were found in a field study completed with the help of local associations. He pointed out that the last suicide case, of a girl under 12 years of age, was recorded on Sunday.Benaissa added that the results of the study described the case as an “anomic suicide.”

First introduced by French sociologist Emile Durkheim, anomic suicide refers to a kind of “result of the change in values in society, whether due to an economic upturn or downturn,”Benaissa explained.

The spokesman said that the observatory “condemns the silence of the elected and general authorities on this phenomenon, which has become very worrying.”Benaissa revealed that the study was carried out at the personal initiative of a group activists who “conducted a series of interviews with local associations and civil activities that led to these results.”

He stressed that the study process was encountering difficulties in accessing remote areas.ONDH said on Sunday that it was closely monitoring “the upsurge in suicides in Chefchaouen province,” stressing that “the most important right in the global human rights system is the right to life.”